National Secondary Schools’ Gaelic Debate 2018 – Semi-finals and Final

National Secondary Schools’ Gaelic Debate 2018 – Semi-finals and Final

Monday, 19 November 2018, 16:36

The semi-finals of the National Secondary Schools’ Gaelic Debate will take place next Tuesday, 27 November, at the Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh, starting at 6.30pm.

The first semi-final will see Inverness Royal Academy B against Inverness Royal Academy A when their topic of debate will be, “Artificial Intelligence is a danger to mankind.” In the second debate of the evening Gairloch High School will be against The Nicolson Institute A when their topic of debate will be, “Make drugs legal and it’ll make Britain’s big cities safer.”

The two winning teams will meet in the Final, at The Scottish Parliament the following evening, Wednesday 28 November, at 7pm, where they will debate, “Were it not for the two World Wars, we wouldn’t be as advanced as we now are.”

“We were very pleased with how the first rounds in Stornoway went. The judges commented on the very high level of Gaelic and debating skills on show from the pupils who took part, presenting them with the difficult decision as to the four teams making it through to the semis. We are very much looking forward to the semi-finals stage at The Storytelling Centre and then the final at The Scottish Parliament.

“As always, we are indebted to our funding partners and I would once again like to thank the following for their support: Bòrd na Gàidhlig, The Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, The Highland Council, Glasgow City Council, Education Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority. On behalf of the committee, I’d also like to thank the judges for this year’s competition Agnes Rennie, Boyd Robertson and Iain Stephen Morrison.”

The Final will be broadcast live on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal. Both the semi-final and final events are open to the public, but, because of security at The Scottish Parliament, anybody intending to attend the Final at The Parliament must notify us before-hand, This should be done by e-mail to Calum Iain Macleod calumiain43@gmail.comby 5pm on Friday 23rd November 2018.

The final will also be broadcast live on the Scottish Parliament’s website. Go to www.scottishparliament.tv for 7pm on Wednesday 28 November to watch live. It will also be available afterwards to catch up, edit, download and share on demand.